Friday, November 9, 2007

The ‘maha kumbh mela’ takes place once every 12 years in allahabad, india, and is the largest of 4 gatherings which make up the hindu pilgrimage known as kumbh mela.

pilgrims travel from all over the world in order to bathe in the sacred ganges river as they believe that doing so frees them from past sins.

in 2001 the most recent maha kumbh mela took place and over a period of 6 weeks 70 million people attended, 30 million alone on january 24th. below is an incredible satellite image of the 2001 gathering, the dark red specks being the thousands waiting to bathe in the ganges, the white dots boats.it is the largest people gathering festival in Asia and it happens once in an year. it is cool,funny and interesting and amazing to see millions of people in the banks of a river. enjoy these photos.Also for larger images click here